


Closer

by microphonechecker



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Best Friends, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, vague mention of day6 members as Mark's friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-19 12:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11313078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/microphonechecker/pseuds/microphonechecker
Summary: "Mark starts to think about how funny it is that you can meet someone and they can become your entire world, just for life to happen and turn you into strangers once again."





	Closer

**Author's Note:**

> It's me again! So in the light of all the recent GOT7 news, I got really sentimental (aka emo) and started writing words and somehow this tiny came to be.
> 
> This quote from the movie The Holiday inspired some of it: "Legend has it, when Santa Ana's blow, all bets are off, anything can happen."  
> Title is vaguely from the song Closer by The Chainsmokers.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

“Then tell Brian I'll join you guys again soon, yeah?” Jae tells Mark alongside an explanation about who and where he was heading to, some friend he just bumped into who invited him for a drink with his group.

Mark was also invited, but chose not to go as he didn't know any of the loud people doing shots at the bar and he was never a big drinker anyway, mostly sticking to beers and sometimes fruity cocktails that most would judge too sweet.

Brian is excitedly talking to a group of people by the deck when Mark finds him again in the crowded rooftop bar, and like clockwork he turns his head to Mark's direction and invites him in with a nod, smiles spreading on both faces. He positions himself besides him, and directs shy and polite smiles to everyone else.  
  
The conversation is mostly small talk, nothing that adds any substance or makes Mark pay attention and his eyes wander around the room.

When he sees a corner inside, nearing the bathrooms he just came back from, Mark spots a tall brunette that his eyes know all too well, but he only realizes after he looks away again. He freezes in place, Brian's voice fading away as he double takes and now, stares at the empty space where the man was just seconds ago. He brushes his eyes with the back of his hand, heart still racing.

“You okay, Mark?” Brian catches his attention again, with a hand on his waist and Mark forces out a smile, nodding weakly.

“Thought I saw someone I knew, but I think it's my brain playing tricks.”

At least he thinks so, but isn't sure if he'd rather be mistaken or not, his stomach turning with something that could only be described as _hope_ that he was back.

Brian smiles at him, the knowing smile Mark has come to hate along the years, but somehow it's comforting because he can tell there is not a single ounce of pity in the way he is staring at him, just plain curiosity and in a way, a nod, like he understands what it's like to be constantly haunted by your past.

It's been a long time anyway, and what are the odds Jaebum is back in Los Angeles after so long? After running from his life, leaving it all behind without so much as thinking about it twice. Without so much as thinking about how it'd make people feel.

He gets brought back to reality when Jae comes back, his loud presence bringing Mark out of his distraction state.

“So, Mark,” he says with a grin, his left hand resting on Mark's shoulder. “I know you'll probably say no, but I'm going to ask and get rejected by you again anyway.”

Brian giggles and Mark sighs at the drama, already knowing what to expect.

“Where do you wanna go?”

“Clubbing!”

“No way,” he says at the same time Brian and some of the others shout “I'm in!”

“You're boring, dude,” Jae teases as always, but there's no real heat behind his words.

Anyone who knew Mark Tuan for longer than an hour could tell you about his lack of spontaneity. How every single one of his words was thoroughly thought about, how his moves were calculated, but they were genuine, nonetheless. Anyone could tell you how much he valued stability, having everything in the correct place and doing things a certain way, to the point he considered himself boring most of the time, leading a quiet life for most part - until he felt comfortable enough to let go of himself.

It's not that he isn't comfortable around Brian, Jae and the rest of the guys. God knows they are some of the only people he can fully be himself with, without fearing judgement or insecurity, but for some reason he finds himself finishing his beer and waving goodbyes, before heading out to get a cab.

The wind blows strongly and Mark feels the sweat accumulating on his forehead with the heat, his hair gluing to it and he sighs, noticing there are no promptly available cars for him. One of the security guards inform that it should be only a couple of minutes and he smiles, picking up his phone from his back pocket.

“Hey, Mark?” Brian calls from the car window when they drive past him, music loud and voices louder inside. “Don't blow away, yeah?”

Mark laughs loudly at how ridiculous it sounds and watches them drive way, before looking down again and he taps on his phone, checking his texts. He opts not to answer any of his messages right away, as he deems none too important and locks it. When he looks up, his heart skips a beat and goes wide, and he closes it for a couple seconds before opening it again to make sure he is seeing right.

Jaebum laughs at him, his mouth stretching in a wide grin and his eyes sparkling eyes, due the bright lights around them, crinkling.

“Was that your boyfriend?” He asks and Mark freezes in place at first then finds himself blinking again, still not entirely sure of what he was seeing right in front of him. “I suppose not, it seemed too casual for him to tell you not to blow away. If you are not together, he likes you.”

Jaebum moves his body closer, still leaving enough space that Mark doesn't feel like he is suffocating, but their bodies are facing each other, giving him no choice than to look straight into Jaebum's eyes.

“He is not my boyfriend, but how is that any of your business?”

“I suppose it's not,” Jaebum's smile doesn't falter, but Mark can see how his eyes darken and he looks away. “So do you have time for your old best friend?”

And while anyone could tell you that Mark lacked impulsiveness, they also could point that one of his strongest characteristics was his value for familiarity, so he nods. He thanks the security guard and dismisses the cab and just follows Jaebum, follows him without asking where they are going and why are they walking, but still follows like he would've done eight years ago before Jaebum left. Like he did so many times before that it became routine and routine, that he could do.

…

As they head down a quiet street, no other words are spoken between them. Mark starts to feel the anxiety burning on his skin as the silence hangs in the air. It's not that he doesn't trust Jaebum, he knows he would never hurt him, but taking someone you haven't seen for the better part of a decade down an empty alley and stopping in front of a building that looks like an abandoned store, without saying a word, isn't the best first move.

“You sure we are gonna find anything here?” He asks looking up and around, confusion showing clearly. Jaebum opens the door as an answer, revealing a dark staircase leading downstairs and a faint sound of music coming, some alternative rock with female vocals that seems loud enough to cross another door at the bottom.

“You coming?” Jaebum smiles up at Mark when he doesn't move, his hand reaching out and grabbing Mark's.

Inside, there aren't many people and no one looks twice as they walk in hand in hand, heading straight to the end of the bar, where Jaebum sits with his back resting against the badly painted wall.

“Jabummie!” He is greeted by a tattooed girl behind the bar, she has a bottle of whiskey in hands and a bright smile as she looks down to their still joined hands. “Wasn't expecting to see you today, a little late for you isn't it?”

He follows her gaze to their joined hands and drops Mark's instantly, his eyes widening and flashing with something that Mark would dare call insecurity. He bites his lips and fights back a smile, at the same time as his brains tells him not to get too excited about the possibility of Jaebum feeling like they can just fall back into what they had before.

“I know, I know,” Jaebum sighs dramatically, looking at Mark next with an easy smile. “But I bumped into an old friend and I couldn't miss the opportunity to catch up.”

Jaebum introduces the girl, saying she was one of his first friends since moving back to LA and orders them two drinks, without consulting Mark first on what he'd have, which makes him question it.

“Sorry, do you want anything else?”

“Nope, it looks just fine,” he says with a shrug, his eyes unable to move from the floor and fingers gripping at the edge of the bar with unnecessary force.

“So you are still fighting things just because?” Jaebum teases, his right leg dangling from the stall and lightly kicking Mark's in a try for attention.

“If I remember well you used to be the one questioning everything for no reason, not me.”

They share a laugh as Jaebum's face seems to heat up, his cheeks and ears going faintly pink from what Mark can in the poorly illuminated room. It's hot inside too and unlike Mark, who discarded his leather jacket right away, Jaebum still has his blazer on and Mark tells himself it could only be the heat, even if he desperately wishes not to be alone while feeling confusing emotions because of this meeting.

“I guess you do remember, yeah?”

Mark doesn't answer, instead he looks hesitantly at Jaebum, his head falling a little sideways.

Now that Mark's gotten used to his presence again, or at least can believe this is actually happening, he starts to notice how different Jaebum looks while thinking he was still the same boy that used to wake Mark up at random hours only to have company.

Surely he looks more mature now, clothes fitting properly, his sandstone shirt clashing with his pale skin, one of the new things as he used to have a California sunkissed skin, and the black blazer that highlighting his broad shoulders. The deep and dark circles under his eyes are also signs of said maturity, as Mark knows well himself that exhaustion comes as a bonus. His lips look somewhat dry and involuntarily, it makes Mark licks his own.

“What is it?” Jaebum squints his eyes at Mark, bringing him out of his thoughts. He blushes a little and shakes his head.

“Nothing, you just look…” Mark pauses, accepting the drink Jaebum picks from his friend and slides to Mark, the honey colored concoction smells somewhat like iced tea but mixed with champagne and something else.

“I look?”

“Different, I guess. Just like I remember you, but somehow different.”

Mark takes a sip of his drink, his lips pressing hard against the red straw to stop himself from saying anything else.

“It's been awhile, I guess I'm supposed to be different,” He swallows the first sip of his drink dryly, legs moving to the beat of whatever song is blasting from the speakers. Mark whispers _a while_ back, not being able to contain back his sarcasm when he thinks about the entirety of the near three thousand days they hadn't seen each other.  “You also changed a lot, you look confident. All of your friends from before were so drawn to you, young JB would've been really jealous.”

Mark tries not to show how those words affect him as soon as they hit his ears, his heart starts racing and he feels how his palms are sweaty now, as he digs his nails against them.

“Not you though, only young JB,” he teases, pouting his lips forward childishly. His eyes are full of mischief and he knows Jaebum can tell, with the way he rolls his eyes.

Still, he is unable to hide the pleased smile on his face so he nods, “you know it.”

…

“How did you even find this place?” Mark asks looking around, it was clearly a popular place if you could judge by the flocks of trendy dressed young people coming and out.

The walls are filled with paintings, abstract drawings and alcohol bottles all over them, the jukebox in the corner playing non stop a mix between alternative and classic rock songs, most of which Mark doesn't recognize but Jaebum seems to appreciate.

“Some friends,” he drawls out easily, his head swaying from side to side to the beat of the song. “We were in New York together for and hidden bars like that were sort of their thing, so when I told them I was moving to LA, they made sure to hook me up with bars and other friends. They were probably scared I'd be lonely forever.”

Jaebum's smile is warm and the small laughing sound coming out of his lips is relaxed and mysterious, like there was something really funny about what he said that Mark missed.

“Was that a problem that you had? You being alone?” Mark bites his lips nervously, something inside him twisting.

Mark never had so many people around him like he did around the time Jaebum left, all of his family and friends being there for support and he even made friends because of that, college and high school kids that were friends with Jaebum but not necessarily with him, coming up to search for something no one really knew what or where it was.

And while Jaebum was always the more social between the two of them, Mark knew that he could close off and isolate himself and it kinda hurts to think that he could've been alone, without support to work through his things, to find himself.

“At times, yeah, but I met some really great people too and really, it wasn't bad at all,” he takes another sip of his new drink. “But enough about this sad shit, tell me, how's your parents? Joey? Your sisters?”

And as Mark starts to update Jaebum on his family, the weddings, the kids, the trips and other relevant moments, he watches Jaebum's face switching from a content glow to acute sadness and back, the mixed feelings he felt with each new story showing on his eyes.

“They would love to see you, you know? You were always mom's favorite,” he smiles brightly in reflex to Jaebum's own mouth quirking up.

“I'd like to see them too…” Jaebum opens his mouth and closed it again, his expression going serious. “My parents would like to see you too.”

Mark looks at him surprisingly, his eyebrows shooting up in doubt.

“I don't think your dad would, no.”

“He actually asked about you when I came back, but you see, he never blamed you for me not being the son he wanted me to be,” Jaebum claps his hands tightly together, his lips pressing against each other for a moment. “I think he blamed himself the most, even if his anger was directed at us. Eventually, he knew that I would never be happy if I couldn't be myself.”

“And are you happy?” Mark shoot back at him rapidly and Jaebum nods, his eyes crinkling. “Good.”

...

“So obviously I have never made it as a hot shot writer, but in the end it was good for me,” Jaebum says. He's been telling Mark what he was up to for the past years, having lived in London for the most part of it, and even New York for a while.

“But you made it to Paris, didn't you?” Mark lets out and regrets instantly, his hands flying to his mouth in a childish sign of regret. He blames the drinks, as he is on his third one already.

“How do you know that?” Jaebum asks suspiciously, his eyes don't meet Mark's anymore and his face closes, a far cry from the excited and friendly expression he had just seconds ago.

“Eh, Tammy saw you there a couple years ago. It was actually the only time I heard from you at all,” Mark hurries to explain, his stomach starting to feel weird, but as the words come out of his mouth, Jaebum's face softens again. “I told you, I never looked for you because I knew if you wanted to reach out, you would have.”

There is a moment of silence and Jaebum's gaze is focused on Mark's face once more. He still looks a little unsure, but whatever it is inside of his eyes don't make Mark panic again, so he allows himself to take the deep breath he's been holding back.

“I was there for about six months shooting a documentary, it was a lot of fun, but then I realized Paris wasn't really for me. I idealized it way too much, and in the end London felt closer to home than anything had in a long time.”

Mark nods in understanding and looks down at their knees knocking together. and He smiles wistfully, thinking about how easy it feels to just fall back into things. The teasing, the memories, the touches. The could even take one or two steps further, and it would still feel right, feel like home, but it would never change the fact that they lost eight years and would never be able to get them back.

“Why did you never write or call?” He finds himself asking without thinking, the words coming out of his mouth recklessly.

“I was young and stupid,” he deadpans and Mark lets out a sharp laugh, the unexpected words making him feel bubbly inside with how much he missed this, missed Jaebum. He never allowed himself to think about it, not after the first two years, but now he is feeling it all over his body. “It's truly that, no other explanation. At least for the first year, I guess.”

“And after?”

Jaebum pushes his hair back and takes a moment to weigh his words. “After? I felt like if I called, you'd ask me to come back and I wasn't anywhere near ready to do it. I always hated letting you down and God knows I've done it enough, so I wouldn't be able to say no.  I'd look at you if I came back, as immature as I was back then, and blame you for something that was on me. I needed to figure myself out, I needed to find myself, so I stayed away because it was the best thing I could do for me, but also for us. The only thing."

Jaebum takes a deep breath and swirls the ice cubes inside his glass, he downs the rest of the liquid before looking to Mark again. “And since we are being honest, I saw you a few years ago too… In Dubai.”

Mark's heart skips another beat and he twists his mouth, recalling the trip to Dubai he took with some friends.

“Why didn't you say anything there?” Mark asks, his voice coming out full of desperation. Jaebum smiles sadly at him, his hand touching Mark's arm and caressing the skin with his thumb.

“You were with another guy and looked happy, it wasn't fair for me to just destroy it for you, not after I left that way.”

Mark lets out a sarcastic laugh, biting his bottom lip for a moment before speaking, “That happiness ended very quickly, as we broke up one day before the trip was over. You would've been the best part of my trip if you had come up to me.”

“Why did you break up?” He asks quietly, unsure if he is allowed to.

“Same thing as all my other break ups, or the same reason why some never even wanted to try and be my boyfriend… I apparently don't commit fully to people,” Mark rolls his eyes dramatically, his easy smile back on his face.

“Oh you have commitment issues too?” Jaebum laughs brightly. “Got dumped a lot because of mine, we make quite a pair.”

“That we do.”

…

When they leave the bar, even more drinks later, they are both laughing at nothing and holding at each other to climb up the stairs safely. It's not the drunkest Mark's been in his life, but when the sun hits his eyes with the morning light, he realizes that he is considerably less sober than he thought he was, since he lost track of time.

“So I'll see you soon, yeah?” Jaebum asks, but it feels more like a promise.

“Yes!” Mark agrees and without thinking twice, he presses a kiss on Jaebum's left cheek. “Thank you for tonight.”

“Thank you for not yelling at me and allowing me to have some time with you,” he jokes and Mark nods at him, his face scrunching alongside his shoulders going up and down in a shrug. As if he could ever be angry at him, he thinks.

Before he can say that or something even stupider, Jaebum points out one of the taxis they ordered was already there. Jaebum tells Mark to get in first, and they bicker about it until Mark starts yawning and accepts defeat.

“Mark?” Jaebum says closing the door and leaning against the window with a smile. “Don't blow away, yeah?”

And as Los Angeles starts to wake up outside his taxi window, Mark, still giggling alone, starts to think about how funny it is that you can meet someone and they can become your entire world, just for life to happen and turn you into strangers once again. And it's even funnier that for some people, all you need is one moment of fate working your way for things to fall into place and they can become everything they were before, just in a blink of an eye. Or with the blow of the wind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading it!
> 
> And once again, if you wanna reach out to me, I'm on [twitter](twitter.com/markbumcentral)


End file.
